Page 75 of Rogue Hope
Zara nodded, but a flicker of unease rippled through her. Something about this felt ... convenient. The timing. The urgency. The location.
The request for complete deployment.
She pulled up Reynolds’ data package again, examining it more carefully. The satellite imagery looked legitimate. The power consumption data matched what you’d expect from a server farm. The threat assessment was detailed and plausible.
So why did her instincts whisper caution?
“Zara?” Ronan’s voice broke through her thoughts. “You don’t look good.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
“I’m serious.” He lowered his voice. “Your hands are shaking. You’re pale as a ghost.”
“I can handle it.”
“Not this time.” His tone softened but remained firm. “Kenji already briefed me on your condition. You’re staying here.”
“I don’t need a babysitter,” she hissed.
“This isn’t a request. You’ll coordinate from here. That’s an order.”
She wanted to argue, but another wave of pain lanced through her, so intense it momentarily stole her breath. “Fine.”
Ronan turned to the team. “Gear up. We move in ten.”
As the team dispersed to make final preparations, Kenji approached her station. “I’m staying behind.”
“That’s not necessary.”
“Someone needs to monitor your condition.” His expression brooked no argument. “Besides, I can help you coordinate from here.”
The medication was finally beginning to take effect, dulling the sharper edges of her pain. It wouldn’t last long—never did with a flare this severe—but it might give her enough clarity to focus on what was bothering her about her mentor’s intel.
Twenty minutes later, she watched from the command center as two vehicles disappeared down the access road. Anuneasy feeling gnawed at her stomach, and it wasn’t just the lupus.
“Communications check,” she said into her headset.
“Reading you five by five,” Ronan’s voice came back clearly. “ETA to target, eighteen minutes.”
“Copy that.” She turned to Kenji. “I need you to check on our guest.”
“Finn? Why?”
“Just a precaution.” She kept her tone casual. “Make sure he’s secure. I don’t want any surprises while the team is deployed.”
Once Kenji left, Zara turned back to the intelligence package, examining it more thoroughly. Something Harrison said during their call nagged at her.
I’ve been tracking anomalous power consumption for weeks.
If he’d been tracking it for weeks, why alert them now? Why not when he first discovered it? And how did Cipher operatives discover him today, just as he was ready to share this intelligence?
She pulled up one of the satellite images, checking its metadata. The timestamp showed it had been taken three days ago—wellbeforeHarrison claimed to have been compromised.
That could be explained. He might have been gathering intelligence for days.
But then she noticed something else. The data file containing Harrison’s threat assessment had been created four hours after he claimed to have been discovered and on the run.
“That’s not possible,” she whispered.
